The Gift of the Magi

Small details are repeated to emphasize their importance. The amount of money Della had for Jim’s Christmas present ($1.87) is repeated six times throughout the story. The cost of the poorly furnished apartment is mentioned twice. When describing Della’s hat and coat, the phrase “old, brown” is repeated twice. The repetition drives home Della and Jim’s poverty and the motivation behind their sacrifice.

“The Gift of the Magi” is told primarily from the perspective of a third-person limited narrator. The story follows Della throughout the day, and her thoughts are revealed to us in a way that Jim’s are not. While Della and Jim are the only characters in the story, at times the narrator’s intrusive voice makes it seem there’s a third character. Instead of simply narrating the events as they unfold in the story, the narrator occasionally speaks directly to the reader. The first time the narrator intrudes is at the beginning of the story. Della is crying on the bed because she can’t afford to buy Jim a Christmas present. The narrator takes that moment to describe the small apartment: “While the lady of the home is slowly growing quieter, we can look at the home.